Abdullah bin Yazid al-Sa'di narrates: Some people of my tribe instructed me to ask Sa'id bin al-Musayyib about the sharp spearheads (sinan) which they sharpen and plant in the ground, and by morning a hyena (dabu') has been killed by it: would that count as its slaughter? The narrator says: I came and sat with Sa'id bin al-Musayyib, and with him was an elderly man whose hair and beard had turned white; he was from the people of Syria. I asked him about this matter, and he said: "Do you people eat the hyena?" I replied: "I myself have never eaten it, but some people of my tribe eat it." Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: "Eating it is not lawful at all." Then that elderly man said: "O servant of Allah, shall I not narrate to you a hadith that I heard from Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him), which he narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?" I replied: "Yes." He said: I heard Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade (eating the meat of) every snatching animal, every mujaththamah (that is, every animal or bird that is made a target and shot to death), and every predator with fangs.
The narrator says: Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: "He has spoken the truth."
In one narration, for 'every snatching animal' the word "dhi khitfah" is reported in place of the word "nuhbah".
Ahmad recorded it, al-Bazzar in abridged form, and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Al-Bazzar said: Its chain is hasan (good). I say: The reason for this is that he recorded it from Sa'id bin al-Musayyib from Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him), and this narrator Abdullah bin Yazid is not in its chain. Al-Tirmidhi recorded from this narration only the prohibition of the mujaththamah.
Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We set out with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to take part in a military expedition. He ordered a caller, and he announced: "Paradise is not lawful for a disobedient person. Beware! Domestic donkeys are unlawful, and every animal with fangs (the narrator is unsure, perhaps the words are:) with claws is unlawful." In one narration the wording is: "Every predator that has claws or fangs."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir within a long hadith that has already appeared in the chapter on funerals; its chain contains Layth bin Abi Sulaym, who is thiqah (trustworthy) but a mudallis (one who conceals defects in the chain); the remaining narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy).
Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of the Nuqaba' (chiefs), narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared unlawful the meat of the lizard, domestic donkeys, and (the meat of) every predator with fangs. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Abu Dawud recorded from him only the part prohibiting the meat of the lizard.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Abd al-Wahhab bin al-Dahhak, who is kadhdhab (a liar).
Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Mughaffal al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He says: I said: "What do you say about the hyena?" He said: "I neither eat it nor forbid it." (The narrator says:) So I say: whatever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not forbid, I eat it. I asked: "What do you say about the rabbit?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I neither eat it nor declare it unlawful." I said: "Whatever you do not declare unlawful, I eat it." I said: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the fox?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Does anyone eat that?" I said: "What do you say about the wolf?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Does anyone eat that?"
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains al-Hasan bin Abi Ja'far, whom a group of the Imams declared da'if (weak), while Ibn Adi and others declared him thiqah (trustworthy).
Sayyiduna Wabisah bin Ma'bad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Do not make the backs of animals into pulpits (that is, do not stay mounted on them while they are standing still)." I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The worst of animals is the fox."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Mubashshir bin Ubayd, who is da'if (weak).